Mayweather v McGregor: Analyst Teddy Atlas warns of dirty tactics

Controversial American boxing commentator Teddy Atlas says Conor McGregor could resort to illegal tactics.

Floyd Mayweather poses as UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor is pulled back by UFC president Dana White during a news conference in Las Vegas.

Boxing expert Teddy Atlas, the man who so enraged Australians with his brutal comments about Jeff Horn, adopted a similar tack yesterday when asked whether he thought Conor McGregor could resort to illegal tactics against Floyd Mayweather.

“I don’t think he will lose himself and do it by accident,” said Atlas, a boxing analyst with US broadcaster ESPN.

“If he does it, I think he will do it on purpose, plan B if you will. Maybe it is even plan A. I don’t know. People are saying ‘oh Teddy, why would he do it, he would be disqualified’.

“He would still be a winner because his brand would go through the roof. He could put his arms up in the air and proclaim himself the champion of the universe in all combat sports.

“Even though he would be disqualified, his brand is a winner. He gets fined and everything else, but he will make more money down the road. So it doesn’t matter.

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“I don’t think it is going to happen but is it a possibility? Yeah.”

McGregor has clauses in his contract giving hefty fines should he fall back into old UFC habits against Mayweather. The Nevada State Athletic Commission also has the power to enact significant sanctions should McGregor kick Mayweather, an act which is legal in the UFC but forbidden in boxing. He could end up losing his entire purse, in the region of $US100 million ($126m), should he cross the line.

McGregor said: “I have taken the Marquess of Queensberry rules very seriously.

“I am going to outbox this man at his own game. That’s how skilled and what a different level I am. I am going to f. k this boy up.

“And when it is all said and done, I am going to feel a little bit sad. You should have all kept your mouth shut. You should have left me bouncing heads off the canvas. You should have left me where I was.

“This man is not at my level. This man is not a quarter of the man I am. I have come through a lot tougher than any of these have come through.”

McGregor’s pledge to adhere to the rules, and the prospect of significant fines, hasn’t stopped boxing cognoscenti suggesting the UFC champion could return to his mixed marital arts roots should he find himself out of his depth.

The theory goes that McGregor will receive a boxing lesson from Mayweather, become frustrated and do whatever it takes to end the fight. If that does happen, McGregor will not only lose millions in fines, but also the opportunity to win the special belt the World Boxing Council has made for the fight.

WBC president Mauricio ­Sulaiman unveiled the “money belt” at yesterday’s press conference. Made from alligator leather sourced from Italy, the belt is encrusted with 3360 diamonds, 600 sapphires and 300 emeralds.

Part of the allure of the fight is the air of mystery which surrounds how it will pan out. McGregor has been a colossus in the octagon but he is entering largely foreign territory given he stopped boxing at a relatively young age. Those in the boxing fraternity fear that months spent preparing for a return to the ring will do little to dull his natural instincts.

Said US boxing historian and analyst Steve Farhood: “I don’t know what to expect — I think that is the appeal of the fight — that we don’t know what to expect from McGregor.

“We know Floyd, we know his brilliance. For me, as a boxing guy, if McGregor is even slightly competitive that is a victory for McGregor. If he is remotely competitive for two or three rounds, that is a victory.

“To think that two months of boxing in a gym is going to wash away everything he learnt in all those years of mixed martial arts — it is not. You hope that this is a boxing match and supposedly there is wording in the contract that prevents him doing anything outlandish or reverting to MMA.

“But is there a chance? Yeah, I guess there is a chance. One thing I was thinking about was let’s say they get in tight. Floyd knows how to fight inside — he knows how to fight like this, head to head, shoulder to shoulder.

“There is no infighting in MMA. When it is close, one of us is trying to grab the other guy and get him on the floor. If the fight goes rounds, I think there is a chance Mayweather may take the fight to the inside because McGregor will be unable to compete in that skill set.”